The reason this news is placed into the “Soul” category, when it could have equally been put into the “Business” or “Life” sections is simple, this news on IE makes me pretty sad :(. I have fond memories of using Internet Explorer when I was younger and life was much simpler back then. Not only was IE the default, de facto web browser, there really was very little other browser competition.

Now, Internet Explorer has much more to worry about:

There’s Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome, not to mention Safari for Apple devices, who all want a piece of the web browser action. Also, the huge shift of web browsing activity from stationary and traditional desktops to phones and much more mobile tablets means that browsing is taking place in other arenas, which IE is less accustomed to.

If I was in the Internet Explorer hot seat, I’d try doing a redesign and some new marketing campaigns (commercials could be interesting). Additionally, its crucial they start pairing up with phone developers to get signed on as the default browser for mobile activity.

After all is said and done, I’d hate to see IE continue along this path and hope they’re able to recoup from this news.